We're excited to share our best answers to your best ginger bug questions! Now that you're all equipped to make fermented drinks, check out these recipes! ru-vid.com/group/PLKmVI5tdVVafT5WGLaJLN9FdbU6jXUCIg
I'd think refrigeration slows but not fully stops fermentation, but I keep mine on the counter, as i thought it needed that bit of warmth, up to room temp. only sometimes over to fully get going. Then I don't keep a lid on it, but instead use cheese cloth & even a nut milk bag, so to keep out fruit flies & to let in other wild native yeasts. ....Hmmm, does that create something different, maybe completely, as Monty Python used as like a mantra :-)
Yes yes! Thanks for the sharing. The fermentation process slows down in cooler temperatures, so it can take longer it colder climates. Our fermentation setup is a fairly consistent 72 degrees Fahrenheit, and sometimes warmer in summer months. Florida is quite warm!
If you REALLY want to, you can put it in the oven with the light on (oven off obviously lol). The light from the bulb and the insulated enclosed nature of the oven is enough to get it going pretty fast! Now my bug is so strong it gets fizzy within a few days even in the fridge 😅
Thanks for all the excellent information. I made a ginger bug and then made your ginger ale recipe. I used the tester bottle to gauge the pressure and put the other bottles in the refrigerator, thinking I had let the pressure build up enough for a good fizz. The tester bottle was very firm when I tried to squeeze it, so I thought the bottles were ready. But to my disappointment, the ginger ale is just OK. It's not as fizzy as I had hoped, and it tastes too sweet (I added some lemon juice to tone down the sweetness). I'd also like to confirm that the ginger bug is an ongoing ferment (from what I've read in the comments). It can be kept in the refrigerator and fed there instead of returning to room temperature to continue fermenting. My initial ginger bug was incredible. I put it in the refrigerator, but I thought I had to bring it back out to activate it again. It's a learning process. Your insights are so helpful, and I appreciate your time. Thanks
We've had that also where our tester bottle was rock solid but there was only a little fizziness. Sometimes those bottles get hard but end up leaking a tiny bit which is why the glass ones are nice. You just have to be careful not to let it build up too much in case of explosions. You have that correct about the ginger bug! You can either leave it at room temperature or just feed it and put it right back in the fridge. It should be good either way! We hope you're getting some tasty ginger ale and wish you the best on your fermentation journey! 🎉🎉🎉
I don't measure when I make soda so can't give you a recipe but a good flavor combo you may want to try is strawberry ginger lemonade I made it using using fresh strawberries from the garden It was very yummy Also I don't use a tester bottle and I make it I just burp the bottles every 24 hours and when it gets the reaction I want I throw it in the fridge... sometimes after 24 hours it's enough sometimes it's 3 or 4 days
The secret to your appeal is as much your upbeat and likable personalities together as the great information. Love it! I’m new to the whole fermenting thing (and to your channel) but you’re probably my fave so far.
Wow! Thank you SO MUCH for the love Victoryak! 💓 We try to stay positive and have a bit of fun along the way (even if we're a bit goofy sometimes 😂) We hope your ferments are coming along well!
@@FermentationAdventure you guys are just fun and seeing a couple work so well together and enjoy themselves makes it enjoyable to watch and definitely learn. Thx.
they do a good job and with out all that weighing and percentages and all that tech stuff I have seen on other channels ... they just do it and show you the process ... I'm making a bug now ... second try ...
You can make a Starter for Fermented Drinks without ginger by using Organic Brown Rice, About 1 or 2 cups of Organic Brown rice and about 1 cup of sugar in a half gallon jar, Fill with chlorine free water. Shake will for about 5 mins and let it set in a warm area. Feed it as you would a Ginger Bug.
Oh wow that's interesting using brown rice! We've tried it with wheat berries and made rejuvelac which sounds like the same thing but with a different grain. It didn't have much of a flavor which might be good for different types of ferments that you might not necessarily like the spiciness of ginger. Thanks for the suggestion!
Thank you for all this helpful advise! I just started my first bug today. You mention that there's health risk from drinking too much ginger beer, but after searching,I only find risks from drinking too much soda. What are the risks and what is too much?
Thanks for the question John! I'm sure everyone has a different tolerance but we've heard some people if they drink too much of the actual ginger, they could end up with some gas or bloating. Not everyone has those issues but thought we'd might mention it just in case. Hope that helps!
Hi thank you for sharing! I have a few questions about the smell of the homemade soda. - Is is normal for the soda to smell vinegary? - What is the smell of a normal one? - How do I know this is not going wrong? Appreciate in advance
Thanks so much for the questions! For the smell of homemade sodas, they can be very different according to what ingredients you're adding. For ginger ale it should smell very pleasant and not vinegary at all, whereas we've tried apple juice and it's a little more sour or beer-like. Sometimes pineapple smell very bad depending on the type and some fruits like watermelon are awful if you ferment them too long. To know if it's gone bad is a combination of making sure there's not mold, that it doesn't smell bad, and that it doesn't taste bad but in the end you'll have to decide that since you're working with all the ingredients, methods, and initial sanitation. We hope that helps! Good luck and happy fermenting! 😊
Great video! Thanks! I'm going to start my ginger bug tomorrow. And then it's on to ginger ale! Thank you so much for this very helpful and entertaining video.
Thank you for the helpful information. I do have 2 questions, though. 1. I made ginger ale from my 1st bug, following your recipes for both the bug and the ale. The ale bubbled progressively at room temp covered with a coffee filter within 2 days. By day 3, the top was covered in a good froth. I let it relax a bit, and then tasted it on day 4. It was fantastically delicious! As I have no bottles, I just put the whole jar in the fridge then, covered tightly, and burped it every few hours. That was last night. I drank a glass before going to bed, and then rooty-toot-tooted profusely all night! Today, I opened my jar of ale and it smells like toots. I see a lot of info online about this being a common occurrence, but I have not been able to ascertain if it is safe to drink or not. Also, is it possible to get rid of the smell, or do I have to just dump it all? 2. About my ginger bug: After making my ale and some other sodas, I only had about a half cup of bug left. So I added water to the jar and started feeding it again. Day 1 at room temp with coffee filter cover, I did 3 T each of ginger and sugar, just like I had when the bug was originally begun. Day 2, it got 1 T each. By day 3, it was a gross, slimy, thick syrup. So, I added a bunch more water at the next feeding to the it down and fed it 1 T each. It sat over night, and next day is thickening again. So, I just covered loosely and put in fridge. Is this fixable, or do I need to dump it and start over? What did I do wrong? Thank you kindly for any advice you can offer. Much appreciated!
I enjoyed this video. You two play well off each other. I have a question regarding the flip top brown glass bottles. If you never burp your soda, will they explode, or do the flip tops reach a point where they will push out and release the pressure?
Thank you! That's a great question! The flip top bottles are built for a limited amount of pressure, but they could definitely still explode if too much pressure builds up. We typically do a short period of 1-3 days of bottling in the secondary fermentation phase, depending on what the tester bottles shows, and then refrigerate where we continue to burp the bottles about once every 1-2 months.
You can definitely you honey as a sweetener. When you use honey it is no longer ginger beer or ginger ale. When you sweeten with honey it is now the close cousin ginger mead.
Hi Paul and Sarah - I am not sure if this has been asked already, but I was wondering if it is OK to keep the ginger bug in the fridge covered with a cloth. I have started on the first batch of Ginger Ale and am excited to see how it turns out. Your videos are superb!
Hi! We are so happy you found us! Yes, you can definitely use a cloth for short periods of time to cover your ginger bug in the refrigerator. Over the long term though, it's possible your ginger bug could get contaminated with something inside the refrigerator and could get funky. It could also evaporate. If you plan on storing your ginger bug long term in the fridge, we definitely recommend investing in a silicone fermentation lid that lets out the gases, but keeps out the oxygen. We've had our ginger bug in the fridge for years and it keeps very well with the fermentation lid.
Hey I made a ginger bug and yesterday was its 3rd day..2 days it had bubbles but 3rd day after feeding the bubbles dissapeared....so I was actually checking if it could still work without bubbles and then I saw ur video (which gave realllyyyy helpful informations ) so yesterday I made my ginger beer adding the same ginger bug....Hope it works !! Thank you so much....
Interesting... It sounds like it may have turned out right, but sometimes there's a stronger smell, even similar to sulphur. It tastes like good ginger ale though? And there are no ginger pieces in your drink? If some had been left in, it's possible the pieces of ginger could start to go bad.
As you use the liquid from your Ginger Bug...you feed it 1 tsp ginger and 1 tsp sugar and place it back into fridge....do you replace the amount of liquud you used wirh some filtered water...or you will run out of liquid? Regards from Sunny South Africa🌞
Thanks for the question! Once you add a bit of sugar and a bit of ginger, feel free the top up the jar with fresh non-chlorinated water. The starter culture will fill the jar so you'll have more liquid to use for next time. Happy fermenting!
Hi Paul and Sarah: Brilliant videos and well on my ginger beer journey. 3 Questions then... 1) As Sarah knows we have incredible maple syrup in Canada. I have purely organic maple syrup with 53% sugar, 4% potassium, 6% Calcium , and 2% iron. Could this be considered a basis for my "Canadian" ginger bug and a special Canuck Ginger Beer?? 2) Does periodic shaking the fermenting ginger beer (not the bug) oxygenate it for quicker results? It certainly froths up nicely after 3 days. 3) Would increasing ambient temperature around the fermenting beer speed up the process? Seems obvious to me but i would like your confirmation! Meanwhile..keep up the great work..love the energy and fun you put into your videos along with super easy to follow instructions. Love from Canada
That's a great idea Paul! Your Canuck Ginger Beer sounds good! You should be able to use maple syrup the same way as you would sugar. It could possibly change how long it takes to ferment but should still work great. We've also liked to stir or shake it up. Whether it makes it work faster is iffy but we like making sure nothing is floating on top too long so the shaking covers anything and prevents mold. Making the ambient temperature hotter would definitely speed up the process in case your house is very cold. Some people use heating mats but be careful how hot so you don't kill it. Thanks so much for the love and we hope you get some tasty ginger beer! 🍺❤️😊
Is the fermentation process outside of the refrigerator when you mention the amount of days? Say you fermented for two days outside of the fridge and put it in to cool down, how long does it keep to that amount of alcohol content? Love your vids thank you for the great knowledge
Thanks for the question! Yes, mostly our videos will show what to expect when you're fermenting on the counter (outside of the refrigerator). We usually ferment in approximately 72 degrees Fahrenheit, so if you're in cooler temps, it could take a few days longer, and warmer temps could ferment very quickly. Then when the ferment is at a good place (good taste, smell, alcohol level, etc), you could put it in the fridge to slow the fermentation process down to almost a halt. Although since your ferment is a living organism, it will continue to ferment every so slowly, even when it is in the fridge. Hope that helps!
Thank you for such detailed info. Love your channel. I already have a Scoby starting in my cupboard👍 for kombucha so now I want to learn how to make some Ginger beer for Christmas😁. Cheers
Thank you so much for the love Wendy! That's fantastic about your Scoby! Woohoo! Ginger beer is so yummy during the holidays. Not only is it delicious, but the ginger helps settle our stomachs after huge meals. 😅
Ooooh, nice! We love hearing what you all are creating out there with your ginger bugs! The peach orange sounds yummy. Are you going to try making it with fresh fruit or with a store-bought fruit punch?
Don't see an answer to this question anywhere. I know you recommend a plastic tester bottle. But can you just bottle all of the ginger beer in plastic bottles? What's the benefit/advantage to bottling in glass bottles instead of just using all plastic? Thanks!
Thanks for the question Brennan! You can definitely use only plastic bottles if you like. The reason we try to only use glass is because we usually like to stores these sodas longer in the refrigerator. Since it's a little more acidic, we'd rather have the acid in contact with glass over the long term. But we do use the one plastic bottle and after it's done fermenting we drink that one first. Some people are pretty serious about it, but if you're comfortable with plastic, you definitely can!
Hey guys, thanks for all your videos. I have two questions: 1. What’s the best way to store fresh ginger? Any tricks? Or just chunk it in the fridge? 2. My ginger bug has a white layer in the bottom of the jar. Is that the yeast? Or is that a bad sign? Thanks anyway!
Hi! We're happy to hear you're trying the ginger bug! Most ferments will have white sediment at the bottom as it's a bi-product of the fermentation process, so it sounds like your ginger bug has worked. We store our ginger completely in tact in the fridge until we need to use it. It's also possible to cut up and freeze your ginger if you want to store it for a long time (say, over a week). When you're ready to feed your ginger bug or use it to make ginger ale, you'll be able to substitute your frozen ginger just the same as fresh ginger. Good luck!
Should you burp your finished soda directly before putting it in the fridge or let carbonation build up again before? How often do you need to burp your soda when it's in the fridge?
Man if I had known I could make my own soda with just Ginger and sugar,. I would've been doing that years ago! I wanted to get that Soda Stream where I carbonate my own drinks,. But I'm a little low on money and I also am low on space, so I don't know where I'd put it. It's nice to know. That I can do it in a more natural manner. And then I don't have to worry about the CO 2 either. Can't wait to make my own bubbly! 😊
@@FermentationAdventure it’s amazing. I used it to make sparkling apple cider. Low alcohol of course. Taste is sweet even though I used Granny Smith apples.
Thanks and Blessings. Honey have probiotics, you can do wine with honey. You can use honey directly with ginger, or fruits and NO WATER, you can get an exellent wine of any fruit. Just cover the chopped fruit with honey and let it ferment. Try with blueberries, blackberries, strawberries, pineapple, etc. Successes
Thanks so much for all the info Pedro! That all sounds so tasty! We love all the different kinds of honey for all the great flavors they add. Happy fermenting!
My wife and I are just starting out and we’re on our second bottling. The first bottling didn’t carbonate as much as we were hoping. Our second bottling tasted a little like vinegar. I believe that’s because we had too much bacteria versus the yeast, but we have no idea how to prevent it.
Hi guys, I wasn’t sure how to contact you so figured I’d try this. I’m Carl from the ‘self sufficient hub’ podcast and I was wondering if you would guest on the show? I am hoping to do a fermenting episode and your knowledge would be super perfect!
Hi Carl! Thanks so much for contacting us about this opportunity! We'd love to learn more about the topics you'd like to cover and things like that. The best way to connect will either be on facebook messages (facebook.com/fermentationadventure/) or by email (paul@fermentationadventure.com). Thank you!
Since gingerbugs use lacto fermentation similar to kombucha honey won't have a negative impact on the brew. Mead is heavy on the honey and has no issue brewing either.
Definitely! Honey in the fermentation process works well. We actually just did a video testing a bunch of different sugars and honey was one of our favorites! 🍺 ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-TTHom2VY2R4.html
Hello! We're not surprised to hear that this mixture has become very active. Adding yeast to an already fermented ginger ale would be introducing yet another active starter culture (you have the ginger bug starter culture in your ginger ale, and then the yeast). As long as it still smells pleasantly yeasty and doesn't have anything growing on the top of the liquid, then it should be like a very active ginger ale. You can let it ferment for a few days without a top on it to let all the excess gases safely escape, before trying to recap it with a closed top. But be sure to use pressure-safe bottles, meaning that they're made strongly to be able to handle extra pressure (unlike simply a mason jar which is not pressure-safe). Hope that helps!
Hello! The length of time it takes to ferment a fruity drink using a ginger bug will depend on the type of fruit (due to how much sugar is in the fruit) and the temperature where you're fermenting (warmer climates ferment more quickly). You may be interested in this video (ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-6pTF5d0I_qg.html) where we make a fermented drink using blueberries. This will help give you an idea of how it will ferment over time. Also, alcohol is a natural biproduct of all fermented drinks that use a ginger bug to kick off the fermentation process. However the less time it is fermenting, the less alcohol it will have. You may also be interested in this video where we measure how much alcohol is created over time in homemade fermented ginger ale (ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-86SwZyUbtF0.html).
I need some clarification. After making the ginger bug. You said to add a starter and the mixture of the ginger bug???? I am somewhat confused. To make the ginger beer?
Sure thing! To make ginger ale, you first make the ginger bug starter. That gets very active and is your starter culture. Then you make the sweet soda syrup. Once it cools you can add your ginger bug starter to the soda syrup and after some fermenting - yummy ginger ale. Hope that helps! 🍻
Hi! I love your videos. My children and I watch your videos all the time. They love fermenting with me. I have a question. We started a ginger bug 4 days ago. It is nice and bubbly but it’s slimy and thick. Is it normal?
Thanks for the comment Edith! Great to hear you are creating fermentation projects to do with your kids. Very cool. So, ginger bugs shouldn't really be slimy or thick, so it sounds like a different bacteria took hold as well. You may want to give the bottles and all equipment a good sterilization by putting them through the dishwasher or pouring boiling water on them, or both. You are also welcome to check out this video we made on sanitization: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-5SgIi2XGIvg.html. We'd recommend starting over on your ginger bug, but you might as well keep the first one going to see how it looks in about a week. It's possible that it would thin if the "good" bacteria takes back over, but most likely it won't be usable. Still a good experiment!
During the process of making ginger bug, I did not fully sterilize the ginger before adding it, which resulted in the growth of many white bubbly bacteria on the ginger bug. However, after two days, these bacteria disappeared. Can I still use my ginger bug?
Hello! Have you checked out our Ginger Bug video? (ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-wtb1BvRUWmI.html) Maybe this one will help because we show you what it should look like during fermentation. When the fermentation process gets going, you'll get lots of bubbles, which creates what looks like some white foam on top. Could this be the bubbly white stuff you're referring to? And then as the bubbles slow down naturally and just become a steady flow of bubbles, the foaminess usually goes away. Hopefully our ginger bug video will be helpful. Happy fermenting!
Yes, feel free to try it out! We've actually had some issues with keeping our turmeric bug going here in Florida. We're still trying to figure out why. Might be our turmeric source here. But our same ginger bug has been alive for years! What out though, turmeric stains! 😅
Would you recommend using airlocks on the individual bottles while letting the carbonation build before refrigerating or would that actually defeat the purpose and prevent the carbonation from building?
You stated in one of your videos to use fresh ginger and more sugar to added water to replenish the ginger bug. IWhy can’t we use to left over ginger that has been boiled to make the ginger ale? If not, what do you all that left over ginger for. It is still full of bite full flavor.
To replenish the ginger bug, we use fresh ginger since the fresh ginger still has live bacteria and yeast present. The boiled ginger should still have some flavor so feel free to use it again in your ginger ale if you like! We end up using another batch of ginger for the soda syrup since the fresh stuff has more flavor. Once you boil it, a lot of the flavor comes out into the soda syrup. Good question!
Here's a question! Isn't gingerale basically just fizzy ginger bug? Since its still alive, couldn't you theoretically use a bit of the ginger ale you made using ginger bug, let it go flat, and continue feeding it with sugar and water and make like a baby ginger bug off of it? (Kind of like if you gave some sourdough discard away, and if its fed it becomes a new mother starter?)
Yes, that should work! You are correct that the ginger bug is very similar to a homemade fermented ginger ale. Both could be used as a starter culture.
Thanks so much for your question! We actually haven't seen store bought crushed ginger except for the powdered kind. It's always possible it could work if they're not pasteurized but we're guessing they probably would kill everything to keep it from going bad. You'd have to test that one out. Let us know how it goes if you do! 😊
We add as much water as we need to fill the jar back up. Once you add sugar and ginger, all of the bacteria and yeast will multiply again in the newly added water. Good luck!
I started a ginger bug from a different channel a few days ago. They use only a little water. Should I be using more water? I don't see how it's going to make enough liquid at the end of the fermentation process with the amount of liquid I'm currently adding. I'm definitely going to try making another one with your instructions.
We like to add enough water to give it a chance to have enough liquid to multiply and spread throughout the jar. It's worked very well for us when we want to make a soda is very active! But yeah the less water you add the less you'll have to work with. We hope that helps!
@@FermentationAdventure Actually I'm almost at day 5 of my fermentation using your method and I saw fizz after only 2 days. It's working just like you said it would. I can hardly wait to make my first batch of ginger ale!
This is a lovely video, so helpful, but I have a question. You said that it is okay to make a ginger bug in a bottle with alot of space but what about making the actual soda in a bottle that is only half/two thirds full of liquid.
Thanks for the question Byron! It's okay to make your ginger ale with a bottle that still has air left in it. We've made batches where only 2/3 of the jar is full and the rest is air and it still turns out great. Hope that helps and happy fermenting!
Hi! It's a personal preference because plastics can leech into your ferment, especially if used over longer periods of time. For us, we feel comfortable drinking it out of our tester bottle under a few conditions. We always use #1 food grade quality plastic so that it's stronger and should hold up better than other plastics. We always remove it from the plastic as soon as possible and transfer to a glass bottle. And, we don't reuse the plastic bottles too many times. So ultimately up to you!
You should be able to refresh it with new ginger, sugar, and non-chlorinated water and it should work out just fine. Ours always ends up a little more sour the longer we don't use it but we don't notice the flavor in new batches of ginger also. Hope that helps! 🍺
@@FermentationAdventure I have refreshed and it seams to be bubbling again. Will try a new soda, pretty soon. Unfortunately we have sub zero temperatures atm so that doesn't help with fermentation.
My ginger bug never got active and is not fermenting from the start and I don’t know what to do I even tried feeding more less and restarting with the same piece of ginger in a weaker sugar solution and stronger sugar solution and the flavor never changed and never built pressure it’s been over a month and none of them fermented. It is non-organic ginger and I did not peel it. But that same ginger I used to flavor my kombucha without peeling it and my kombucha still fermented and built pressure and I’ve also used the unfermented ginger bugs in my kombucha and it was fine for secondary fermentation.
Hi! Great question and thanks for reaching out! It will become less sweet over time, so the taste is freshest within a month or so, but it can be stored in the fridge for something like up to a year in a pressure safe bottle. You'll still need to burp it every so often since it's still a living probiotic drink that will continue to ferment every so slowly in the cool temps of the refrigerator. Enjoy!
Since blackstrap molasses has sugar content you could probably use it instead of white sugar. There might not be as much sugar and it will dramatically change the flavor of your ginger ale so you'd have to experiment with the amount you'd like. Good luck and happy fermenting!
Hi! Thanks for the question! You can top it back off with non-chlorinated water. At 01:39 in this video, we help explain how to do this, as well as answer many other of the top ginger bug questions we get. Hope this helps!
Hi guys! Love the video and information, congrats! I have a question. Can I second ferment on glass bottles with a normal metal cap? Or do I need to ferment on the brown glass bottles that you show on the video? Thank you!
Thank you so much for your question! You can definitely ferment with a regular glass bottle and use the metal caps. Make sure not to tighten them though because you don't want to build up pressure. We also stopped fermenting with the metal lids since they kept rusting. We hope that helps! 😊
Hi, thank you for your videos. I started a ginger bug. But I heard you say on the video that you can make ginger soda/beer and jump right in to that recipe without the ginger bug. I was wondering if you could explain that process.
Hello! Absolutely! Your ginger bug is essentially ginger beer already, so you could just use the process of creating a ginger bug, and then drink the ginger bug as your ginger beer. Pretty cool, but there is a downside to drinking all of your ginger bug. The point of the ginger bug is to have a starter culture ready to go. Then it's easy to make all your fermented drinks when you have a ginger bug already waiting to be used.
Thanks for the question Leeandra! For the discarded ginger we actually just compost it. Almost like discarded tea, there doesn't seem to be a lot of flavor left in it but I bet it would work for baked goods if you didn't want to throw it away. 😊
Hi! Plastic bottles would not affect the fermentation process, so you technically could use all plastic bottles, as long as they are the kind built for pressure like used soda bottles. However since the chemicals in the plastic leak over time, and especially with the acidic environment created with fermentation, I wouldn't recommend using the plastic bottles for very long. How long you feel comfortable using plastic bottles is up to you.
For the fermentation process to work you definitely need some form of sugar whether it's a less processed sugar or refined. The microbes need something to eat to keep them fueled. But the longer you ferment, the less sugar will be left in the end. You'll have to experiment on how long you ferment and the taste that you like. Good luck!
Hello, I've been watching your videos. Finally decided to start my Ginger bug. After 5 days, I have no bubbles or fizz. What could be wrong? Is it dead? 😢
Hi! How does your ginger bug look now? Sometimes it just takes longer for the fermentation process to really get going if it's a bit cooler temps or perhaps there was chlorine in the water. And then other times the bubbles are just so small that they can be hard to see (a flashlight helps to see more clearly).
@zema4001 Oh no! That can happen sometimes and there are a number of factors for that. You could try sanitizing your jars and equipment differently the next time, and also make sure that you're using non-chlorinated water, as well as making sure to keep it out of direct sunlight. Hope that helps for when you decide to give it another go! 😊
We like to put a solid lid on our ginger bug loosely to make sure no pressure builds up. If we put some kind of cloth on it, we didn't want any bad bacteria to start building up on it. You could also use a fermentation lid if you like. Good luck!
Hello! The fermentation process naturally creates gases, so it's just a matter of bottling it for a short time so that the gases stay in the bottle, which creates carbonation. It may help to check out some of our homemade soda videos where we go through the bottling process. Here's one for ginger ale: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-KsMUuMmKwps.html, and here's one for blueberry soda: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-6pTF5d0I_qg.html. The blueberry soda one is interesting because it becomes so carbonated and it's a good reminder to be careful whenever you're bottling ferments. Hope that helps!
Just accidentally discovered you guys! I love ginger ale and buy from stores. Interested a lot to get started and give it a try to make it myself. Sub'd to your Channel 🙂
Hi, I’m very interested in making some ginger beer. I’m also a diabetic. My question is can I cut back the amount of sugar or is it all needed for the fermentation process?
You can definitely cut back on the sugar if you need to lower it. As long as the bacteria and yeast have some sugar, they should turn it into a delicious drink. You'll have to experiment with the amount of sugar that would be right for you along with the taste. Happy fermenting!
Fermenteds are super helpful for those w/ auto immune diseases such as diabetes & itll help your body process sugars better. I went from pre-diabetic to 0 while drinking ferments every single day. It really helps to create a healthy gut microbiome, which as we know our gut health directly links to all auto-immune diseases
Hello! Ginger ale refers to an artificially flavored ginger drink that typically has carbonated soda in it. A naturally fermented ginger ale is called a ginger beer. It's made with fresh ginger and sugar, and naturally becomes alcoholic during the fermentation process. It also has a natural fizziness to it, as well as probiotics. Here's our fermented ginger ale (or ginger beer) recipe: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-KsMUuMmKwps.html 😄
Hi! Thanks for the question! Technically any fermented drink will have some level of alcohol since it's a natural bi-product of the fermentation process. However if you ferment for a very short amount of time, the alcohol levels are very low. Here's an example of how the alcohol progresses over a week of fermentation: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-86SwZyUbtF0.html Hope that helps!
@@FermentationAdventure it does, thanks for the reply! I’m guessing there’s fewer of the beneficial bacteria and yeast due to a shorter fermentation time, yes? I’m trying to get as much of the good stuff with as little of the alcohol lol
Thanks for the question! That's more of a guarantee that you have some good bacteria and yeast to start with. You probably could just put a little bit in there to start but if you keep adding them it's more likely you'll be good to go. We hope that helps and happy fermenting!
@@FermentationAdventure So after the ginger bug is good to go, you would only need to feed it with sugar to keep it going? I don't regularly buy or use ginger so I'd like to plan out all of the materials before starting. Thanks!
We only add more ginger once we've used most of it and need to top it up again. It's mostly for more flavor but it's possible it might need some younger fresher yeasts. You can definitely try it without adding more but I bet the ginger flavor would eventually get watered out. Good luck!
@@FermentationAdventure Thanks. I did some extra research and it looks like the ginger contains the essential nutrients for the yeast that is needed for cell replication (sugar is only energy). My ginger bug stopped bubbling after 6 days and I didn't add ginger so I started a new one and this time around, I'm adding both.
You can definitely skip the fermentation vessel if you'd like. We like to ferment it all in one big batch to make sure it works out like we're expecting, otherwise if something goes wrong it's usually a lot of bottles to clean up rather than just one big jar. Good question! 😊
@@FermentationAdventure Thanks. I filled a 1,5 liter plastic bottle up to about 1 liter mark and the carbonation is so so... does leaving headspace reduce carbonation?
I just found your channel while looking for homemade ginger ale. Thank you for all the wealth of info. You guys are a perfect Duo ☺️ Quick question not addressed in this Q&A. If I'm going to use a beer bottle with the crimp caps (to share with others, instead of the swing top bottles) how would you address the bottling since you can't burp after capping?
Great question Matthew! We haven't use the capping method since you can't burp it, but from what we've read by Sandor Katz, he says that you can do a really long ferment to make sure all the sugar is used up. Then he adds maybe 1/4 to 1/2 tsp sugar to the bottle before capping to give the bacteria and yeast a little to eat which will "prime" the bottle. You definitely would want to make sure there's no activity since you wouldn't be able to release the pressure. Some have asked about putting the bottle in boiling water or the oven to kill the ferment but that would be way too dangerous to heat a bottle that's under pressure. Definitely some things to think about so be careful! Happy fermenting!
Hi! When the ginger bug has been fermenting for about a week, and has been bubbling happily for days, then it's ready to be used to make fermented drinks! Feel free to check out our full video on how to make a ginger bug, including how a ginger bug progresses during the fermentation process: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-wtb1BvRUWmI.html Hope that helps!
Hello guys! I really appreciate for this FAQ. I made Ginger beer with my ginger bug on Feb 11th and I still don't see any bubble. Can I add more ginger bug or should I just leave it? Thanks from Japan :)
Hello Megumi, thanks for the question! It's probably been more days since you started but can you shine a flashlight on your ginger beer to see if there are any of the tiny bubbles? They are easier to see with bright light. Also it might take more days if it's cold in your home. Did you ginger bug bubble when you made it before the ginger beer? If we have a batch of ginger beer that doesn't work, we either give it more time or throw it out and start over. If it's been a week and the temperature is cold in your house it might need more time. If it smells good, have you tasted it to see if it tastes good? Otherwise you could throw it out and start over. We hope that helps and hope you get a nice ginger beer soon! 😊
Hi! You mentioned something about your ginger bug being as old as one year in the fridge, so did you keep feeding it once a week for one year, even if you weren't planning on making soda? Is it like a sour dough starter you only have to feed once a month, because I remember you saying something about going a month without feeding it?
Thanks so much for your question Mia! You got that right! It's basically like a sourdough where you can feed it every so often in the fridge. We don't feed it every week and probably more like every month or two and it's still been working great for us. We hope that answers your question! 🙂
I fed my ginger bug every day and on the 5th day it stopped bubbling. I stopped feeding it for 3 days and it started bubbling again. Since then, I can taste it and if it is super-duper sweet, I tend to not feed it again until it starts bubbling again, or the sweetness is not so strong.
I don't get bubbles, but fizz yes. Does it mean it still ferments? I got 375g sugar per gallon, according to Sandor Katz' recipe. Could it be too much sugar to have the bubbly activity?
Thanks so much for your question! If you're getting fizz then you should be getting bubbles but maybe it's hard to see them. You can probably shine a light on the side of it and see the bubbles coming up. It sounds like you're on the right track! 😊
@@FermentationAdventure Oh yes, I found the bubbles. Not many. But I guess I'll get the hang of it to make it more lively. Thanks for looking after the comments!
Good question and great observation! You definitely can! Since you're drinking something that's alive it will keep multiplying if you give it more fuel and consume. Good luck and thanks for watching!
Great video, very informative....I have question on how to control or even to stop the fermentation process when the ginger ale is ready to drink? I'm asking this question because i'm having bad experience when i leave the ginger ale bottle in room temperature for couple of hours. it was explode like a bom, that makes me worry when ever to leave the bottle out of the fridge. Hope you have solution for this.
What we like to do is just move it to the fridge to slow it down. You could also release the pressure to make sure there's no pressure built up. Some people use a cleanser called star sanz to sanitize and kill the culture, but we'd rather keep all of the probiotics. You definitely don't want any explosions!
@@FermentationAdventure Hi thanks for your reply. However from your explanation it's clear that this home made probiotic beverage is impossible to be away from fridge. too bad...i wonder is there any way to keep it in a bottle like any other soda beverages so we could sell it as a home industry products.
In search of help! So I have been attempting to make ginger ale/beer several time now. In each iteration I get a sour gas/egg/sulfur smell. Each time we make a single change and have improved each batch however once we get to bottle carbonation and chilling in the fridge the ginger beer smells awful
Hello Katrina! We've heard that some strains of yeast produce much more of a sulphur smell. This is fairly common to beer brewers and usually they say it's because the yeast are strained and don't have enough nutrients. Does it still taste fairly sweet at the end? You might have gotten a strain that naturally produces more of that terrible smell. One thing you could try is the nuclear option to make sure everything is absolutely killed off on your containers and utensils before you start fermenting. We're actually coming out with a video on that tomorrow! Some other ideas might be to try distilled water in case your tap water has hard chemicals in it that might be causing it. Another thing to test is usually the sulfur smell off-gasses so when you bottle it, it might be containing that smell. Does it have the smell before you bottle? Hope some of that helps! Good luck!
